Using no egg turner

[DuckCommander]

If I was to not use an egg turner so that I can fit in more eggs. The eggs must be hand turned once daily, correct? But how do you prevent losing too much humidity in this process causing the eggs to vacumm seal the chicks?

 

[Ridgerunner]

A minimum of three times a day is recommended, more is OK. What you are trying to do is to not have them spend too much time in one position. That’s why an odd number is often recommended. You don’t want the egg to spend all day while you are at work in the same position every day, or all night while you are asleep. Set up a regular schedule. For some people four or six times a day may be more appropriate. Try to even it out in a way that suits your schedule.

The turning accomplishes a couple of different things. Eventually a membrane forms to prevent this, but early on if the yolk or developing embryo touches the egg shell it can get stuck. When this happens, it dies. Turning prevents the yolk or embryo from touching the side. Eventually the embryo gets so big it will touch. That’s why that membrane forms.

The other advantage to turning is that it helps the body parts form in the right place. The eyes should not both be on one side of the face or inside the skull. The kidneys and liver need to be in the right place so the plumbing works. Turning early on especially is important.

During incubation, instantaneous humidity isn’t all that important. Average humidity is what counts. You want the egg to lose enough moisture so the duckling can internally pip. You don’t want it to lose so much that it gets stuck. The good news is that the average humidity doesn’t have to be really precise. There is a fairly wide bandwidth that works. Opening and closing the incubator is not going to have a big effect on average humidity, but it will have a small effect. That is part of the reason different humidities work for different ones of us. I would not get over-concerned about it this hatch. There are other things going on relative to humidity, such as the temperature and humidity of the air going into your incubator. I suggest you be fairly consistent this hatch, then analyze your hatch. If you are consistent you will have a better idea of what you might need to tweak for your specific situation.

Good luck with it. You are going to have fun.